Remember when Silent Hill was scary, before it got lost in a swamp of weapon degradation and action RPGs? Heck, the whole franchise just hasn't been the same since it left Japan. Studios from all over the world have tried to capture the horror that the original Silent Hill games had, and none has succeeded. It's hard to get that particular brand of passive aggressive Japanese horror down right. I give props to Konami for trying, but Homecoming, Downpour, and Book of Memories are far cries from the emotional experience that was Silent Hill 2.

Dragon Quest

Dragon Quest was a franchise we really thought was going to just keep staying great. Dragon Quest VIII was phenomenal, and Dragon Quest IX was a successful reinvention of the franchise that fit snugly into the handheld space. But Dragon Quest X? It's a massively multiplayer online RPG with monthly fee for the Wii. What?

Sure, the more recent Kirby games have been fun, but they just aren't making a splash like they used to. They are easily overshadowed by Mario, Zelda, and other big Nintendo mascots. Kirby's Return to Dreamland kind of crept up on us, and even though Kirby's Epic Yarn was a blast to play, you couldn't even die in it. Meanwhile, die-hard Kirby fiends are looking forward to a return of Kirby's animal friends, or perhaps a return of the power-merging system of Kirby 64, or maybe even a simple remake of Kirby Super Star with its thousands of powers. Kirby, you just ain't the puffball that you used to be, man.